BGleas

JG literally hasn't played a minute as a wing in his two years. Kopp turns it over far less then JG and is a much better perimeter defender. With that said, my hope is that Kopp isn't a starting wing either. Very few are claiming Kopp is the answer, but that doesn't make JG a wing player. I will be absolutely floored if we trot out a TJD, Race, JG lineup. It literally never happened once this season when the wings were a weakness.

I'm not down on him at all. I'm glad Race is back, but honestly there was a part of me kind of hoping Race was going to move on so JG could get those minutes all to himself. But, he's not a wing. I'm not saying Kopp is the answer, never have, but Kopp also does a lot that JG can't. Kopp turns it over far less, fouls far less, and is a much, much better perimeter defender. JG is pretty bad defending the perimeter, he gets blown by a lot and loses his man out there a lot. JG is a really good developing stretch 4. That's the way the game is going/has went, smaller, not bigger. He can get to that midrange as a 4 and his 3 is developing. He can crash the oboards from that spot, etc. Our fan base always does this. Like Justin Smith, OG, Troy and Watford before him, everyone wanted them to be college wings, but they're not. There's nothing at all wrong with that, it's how the game is played. I mean, I'm typing this while watching Draymond Green play center in the NBA playoffs.

I definitely want JG to stay. He brings a lot to the table and should only keep getting better. But, without a ton of development on both ends, I just don't see him getting any minutes at the wing.

Gotcha. I don’t really see JG playing that much on the wing. He hasn't played that role at all in two years, and he'd have to improve a great deal at both ends. IMO, like Justin Smith, OG, Troy Williams and Watford, JG is a college 4.

Why? They play totally different roles/positions.

Would love it to happen, as it would help both JG and the team be more versatile, but he is going to have to improve a lot on both ends to be a wing player. He's really bad defensively on the perimeter at this stage, much worse then Kopp, and of course we know the offensive improvements he needs to make. Hope it happens, and I'm a JG fan, love him as an athletic 4 on both ends, but he needs a lot of work to be a true wing player.

True, and maybe it's semantics, but in that scenario Reneau would be the JG replacement and Dennis would sort of replace Stewart if we're getting that granular.

I wouldn't think so. Dennis is a wing and JG is a 4. We'd still need to replace JG if for some reason he left.

TJD really is a great 5 for college basketball. We just need better pieces around him so that he's not the focal point. TJD is a shot-blocking, rebounding big that generally can finish around the rim and is good in the PnR game. The problem is that he shouldn't be the focal point of an offense. Put him with guards and wings like UNC has, Duke has, Kansas, etc., and he'd be perfect. I would love to have TJD back surrounded by XJ, Bates, JHS and a couple other guards and wings from the portal. Guys that can create and make shots while TJD is a rim runner in the PnR game and a monster defensively. I say this all realizing there is a slim chance he returns.

Leonard Hamilton is also 73.

But, there never was a coach in waiting. It was always message board fodder, nothing else. Dane Fife himself said during his introductory press conference that he was not the coach in waiting. There are also like 3 coaches in the ACC in their 70's doing just fine on the recruiting trail. Mike Woodson has never even remotely indicated that his tenure will be short (3-4 years or something).

Why was it the implication they wanted to send? Because fans on a message board wanted it to be? At no point during that last year has Woodson or Dolson alluded to or said anything about it or about Woodson only being here 4-5 years or anything. If it was the implication they wanted to send then they would have named him the Associate Head Coach from the outset. They didn't. There's been no talk about anyone taking over for Woodson by anyone in the admin. Woodson could be the coach for 10 years.

He also would sub a lot less in the 2nd half of games. In a lot of games Durr, Bates and even JG would get run in the first half but not the 2nd half.

The vast majority of these "controversies" or that there are multiple versions are our fault. They're BTB's fault, HSN's fault, Peegs fault, etc. (myself included). I'm still seeing posts on various message boards to the effect of, "this is so embarrassing that IU would fire their coach in waiting. How do you hire a coach in waiting and one year later fire them." I use that as an example because literally nobody in the administration called Fife the "coach in waiting". Dolson didn't, Woodson didn't call him that, and Fife even denied it. Yet a lot of fans ran with it. This example happens all of the time. The vast majority of these controversies are fan created. We (myself included and all of our boards) pass things off as facts that the admin never says, alludes to, etc., but then we blame them for mishandling or messing up when the things we generated don't happen, etc.

Absolutely! I think it also helps with XJ's decision making when he attacks. He had more space Thursday when attacking off the PnR and he made much better decisions on when to go score, when to drop it off to the bigs and when to kick out. As you said, it was just less crowded.

Completely agree. I remember Baylor last year, they essentially played a 41 offense with their 5 basically running around setting ball screens all possession. Mark Vital was their 4 and he would mostly spot up in the corner. Vital, built similar to Race, was an even worse 3pt shooter then Race, but it still worked to space the floor for their dynamic guards and wings. Of course our guards and wings aren't nearly as talented as Baylor's from last year, but my point is that Woodson came in talking about wanting to play a 41 offense, but he sort of abandoned it since neither TJD or Race can shoot reliably. I don’t think he needs to a abandon it though, and I thought we actually went to it against Maryland to an extent and it worked well. We didn't have Race all the way in the corner, but I saw an adjustment where Race was more in the short corner as opposed to on the block and it created more space for XJ in the PnR with TJD. I'd love to see Woodson move the offense this way with it based around a 41 set up running through XJ and TJD in the PnR game, as opposed to running the offense through TJD and Race on the block. I definitely don't think we're better without TJD. But, I do think we're better running a more spread offense and getting our guards and wings much more involved and then going to our bigs through PnR.

I don't get the handwringing over the substitutions? He phases in the subs, they're not all at once, though they are all on the court together for a short period of time. But it only happens in the first half, not the 2nd half. He's seeing who has it and who doesn't for a few minutes. Durr rarely plays in the 2nd half, and recently Bates doesn't either, with Geronimo just getting a few minutes. It's mainly Phinisee and now Galloway.

I record most games and watch them later as well, not because of apathy but because I have 3 kids between elementary and middle school so our calendar is packed. But what I can't imagine doing is recording the game and then only watching it if we win. I avoid the score and then watch it later that day. Can't imagine spending 2 hours to watch a game that I already know the outcome of.

I've always heard Woodson say that Matta is in most, if not all of their meetings.

That could be the case, but at some point you either have to get over it an ball...the clock is ticking on his career.

He misses a ton of wide open catch and shoot 3's though.

I don't have any great insight here, other then the old Parcells line, "you are what your record says you are". Phinisee is in year 4 and has proven over that time that he is not a good shooter. He's a below 36% shooter overall and a below 25% shooter from 3. That is really bad. Can he turn it around the back half of his senior year here? Sure he can. But, I wouldn't expect it. We've been playing this "he just needs confidence game with him for 3 years.

In Archie Miller's defense, I always thought IU was really good against zones the last 4 years.

That game changed when XJ came back into the game in the first half. He began pressure the heck out of their point guard and even denying him the ball. That's when IU's energy and effort, especially defensively changed.

I was in Maryland on Monday and listening to sports radio, the main gripe was Turgeon constantly playing small and sitting their bigs, when none of their guards/wings can shoot. Basically sitting some talented bigs and playing small with shooters that can't shoot. Sounds eerily familiar doesn't it?